Here is the story of how Bob Heyman coined the term 'Search Engine Optimization'

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a term that has come into common use.  People ask how my partner Leland Harden and I happened to coin the term Search Engine Optimization and become the first search marketing agency.  The origin of SEO happened this way, as recounted way back in 1997 in the book Net Results that Leland and I wrote with Rick Bruner. Here’s an excerpt from page 137:

The scene is the Heyman home, the summer of 1995, 3:00 a.m. on a Monday morning. The phone rings. Bob, senior vice president of audience development at Cybernautics, grabs the receiver and mumbles, “Hello?”
“Why the #$%$ don’t we come up before page 4 on this damned thing? Page #$%$ 4, you #$%$ morons” the voice on the other end shouts.

Examining the alarm clock and smiling meekly at his wife, I asked, “Huh?”

The caller was the manager for the rock band Jefferson Starship, then a new Cybernautics client. He was throwing a tantrum befitting a rock industry insider in the middle of the night over the fact that the Web site Cybernautics had recently built for the band appeared several screens down in a search of “Jefferson Starship” on a particular search engine.

As it turns out, the band was on the road, and the manager had wanted to show a club promoter how hip Starship was to have its own web site. Unfortunately he couldn’t remember the URL (www.jstarship.com, now defunct), so he resorted to a search engine lookup. To his considerable annoyance, the page did not come up especially close to the top of the list.

The next morning, I dragged into the office a bit sleepier than usual, gathered the staff and explained that mastering the art of search engine ranking was a new company priority.

It turned out that what governed organic search results back then was how many times the keyword appeared on the web page. The Cybernautics designers had done a tasteful job and the keyword Jefferson Starship did not appear as often as it did on fan pages about the band. Once I had his designers have the words Jefferson Starship recur on the page in tiny black print against a black background the page rank vaulted to number one. The band was pleased.

Myself and Leland Harden called this new field Search Engine Optimization and soon thereafter hired the first SEOM (Search Engine Optimization Manager).

And so SEO was born.

What you need to know about SEO

There is good news if your website is currently ranked low in search engine results! You will be able to increase your ranking by implementing a new SEO approach. The most important thing in SEO is knowing search engines' ranking factors - such as keywords & content, engagement & traffic, or domain-level brand metrics - to make sure your website is relevant and popular by search engines. Here are the basics that you need to know to understand how SEO works.

Audit your website

The first steps in auditing a website for SEO is to learn your current rank, review your website's analytics, and determine the keywords that will set you apart. In cases were websites are not compatible with current standards, ease of update and modification and not compatible with mobile technology, the site should be revamped.

Crawling and Indexing

Search Engines have automated robots called crawlers that use links to scour the Internet, find web pages, and decipher page data that are indexed to be included in search engine results. Pages that are private or should not be indexed should be hidden from the crawlers.

Ranking

Each search engine has different ranking factors, but they all have a few factors in common: keywords, content, and links. Keywords and content are arguably two of the most important factors that search engines look for when ranking pages. Because of this, it is imperative that you know what keywords are in highest demand within your market and incorporate those keywords into the content on your website. All your website's content will naturally create a collection of links; search engines use link analysis algorithms that look at the sources, number, and anchor texts of links to help determine their relevance in search queries.

Accelerated Mobile Performance and Mobile Optimization

Having a mobile optimized website will help improve your search engine ranking because search engines are starting to develop mobile crawlers that will create mobile-only indexes. Accelerated Mobile Performance (AMP) allows for faster rendering of web pages on mobile devices and is recommended by Google. It has three components: AMP HTML is a simple redesign of HTML with specific AMP commands, AMP JS is JavaScript for mobile that ensures quick page rendering, AMP Content Delivery Network will cache your AMP content for fast delivery. In Google searches on a mobile device, there is now a carousel of search results that only includes webpages that have implemented AMP. While AMP is not yet a ranking factor, it does drive more traffic and visitors, especially from mobile devices where your website is more likely to be a top result in Google's carousel. Ranking in the search engines.

An approach that we use to rank your website is based on the current (2015-2016) way that google ranks sites. Best rankings of sites are dependent on what is called an authority site. Authority sites have a ranking of 20 or higher in the MOZ Open Site Explorer. The number of inbound links from other authority sites also boosts the ranking.

Creating Buzz and Connecting with Influencers

When your websites are set up and your online presence is established with the correct target audience in mind it is time to take your message out to the influencers of this audience. Effectively targeted press releases and amplification of your message must be done by identifying the right influencers in our vast database. We connect with the influencers and provide them a reason to mention your name, product or service and take it to their lists. Then we can provide you tools to monitor the coverage for yourself or we can provide full services in this area. Finally, we have the tools to measure the impact on your market place. We look for mentions in the different media and seek to maximize the positive sentiment about your business.

Your Unique Selling Proposition

Since website and sales via the internet are such important revenue sources, the correct setting up of your Unique Selling Proposition and your own identity is very important. The more your you connect with your customers on the products and services they need, the higher your chances are of successfully attracting your customers and increasing revenues.  This needs to be well reflected in your websites, especially sales sites.

We have found that this work is a good time to evaluate your business processes through a Business Diagnostic session and a Business Alignment. Further business coaching can increase the revenue and profit margins significantly over six months to two years. This whole process will keep you very competitive in the market place and, with this internet strategy and SEO ranking, on the leading edge of the current internet technology.

The Five Steps Towards Optimization

We propose a five-stage model.

1.  On-Page SEO report

2.  Revamped website with mobile support

3.  Off Page SEO / Google Integration and proprietary systems

4.  Project management of content and social media.

5.  Authority Site about best practices in your industry.

 

It is also in our experience that when companies revamp the websites, it is usually a good indication that the business may need to be assessed and reviewed for major challenges. It is our recommendation that a diagnostic assessment is undertaken and a business alignment done to make sure that all team members understand the business vision and goals.

Execution Strategy

Our execution strategy incorporates proven methodologies, extremely qualified personnel, and a highly responsive approach to managing deliverables. Following is a description of our project methods, including how the project will be developed, a proposed timeline of events, and reasons for why we suggest developing the project as described.

On Page SEO Report

We will deliver a report that recommends your specific keywords and phrases, identifies your competition, and identifies the authority sites on which you should be posting articles.

This will be implemented using our in-house proprietary tool, SearchTriggers:

·    In depth keyword research

·    Competitive analysis

·    Traffic analysis

Off Page SEO / Integration and Digital Engagement Group proprietary systems

We will provide SEO research, analytics, reporting and optimization. This can be done with your staff with Digital Engagement Group guidance or completely done by Digital Engagement Group.

In addition, we will make sure that local SEO is correct for your company and show up correctly on Google maps.

The implementation will be based on the following:

We will use our industry-leading tool, SearchTriggers, developed exclusively by our team, which provides unprecedented insight into competitive activities and SEO opportunities.  This cutting-edge proprietary process provides real time search data into whether to pursue a specific keyword naturally versus using a hybrid PPC approach.  

Our team has devised a new hybrid strategy combining paid search, traditional organic search, and social media to achieve proven SEO results under the new and much changed Google rules.

·    This strategy has proven itself to acquire competitive keywords that simply cannot be garnered without its use.

·    Request a location postcard from Google and set up the company information correctly.

In our experience, our clients begin to start ranking under niche phrases in 90 days. We consider it best practice to focus on 1

or 2 primary targets so that the client is established as the market leader.

The output of SearchTriggers is both SEO and PPC, and we use it to provide us with the analytic basis of our hybrid SEO strategy that utilizes PPC to enhance Google SEO rank.

We believe the most important aspect of SEO is knowing the factors that search engines use to rank websites, so you can ensure your website is relevant and popular in the eyes of the search engines. These ranking factors are: keywords and content, engagement and traffic, and domain-level brand metrics.

Below is an outline of our unique approach, including the steps we will take to analyze, research and optimize your website according to our Modern SEO strategy.

1) Audit your website

The first step is to audit your website, identify your current rank and authority, review your website's analytics, and determine the keywords that will set you apart from your competition. In cases where websites are not compatible with current standards, including mobile compatibility, ease of update and modification, we may recommend that your site be revamped or rebuilt,

2) Crawling and Indexing

Search Engines have automated robots called crawlers that use links to scour the Internet, find web pages, and decipher page data that are indexed correctly for inclusion in search engine results. Web pages that are private or should not be indexed for some reason should be hidden from these crawlers. We will hide these pages from the crawlers and clean up your list of indexed pages.

3) Ranking

Each search engine has different ranking factors, while they all have a few factors in common, in particular keywords, content and links. Keywords and content are arguably two of the most important factors that search engines look for when ranking pages. Because of this, it is imperative that you know what keywords are in highest demand within your market and incorporate those keywords into the content on your site.

All your website's content will naturally create a collection of links, and search engines use link analysis algorithms that look at the sources of the links, number of links, and anchor texts of links to help determine their relevance in search engine queries. Using the keyword tool Search Triggers, we are experts in determining the relevant and most effective keywords for your specific niche.

4) Accelerated Mobile Performance and Mobile Optimization

Having a mobile optimized website will help improve your search engine ranking because search engines are beginning to develop mobile crawlers that will create mobile-only indexes. Accelerated Mobile Performance (AMP) allows for faster rendering of web pages on mobile devices and has recently been recommended by Google.

AMP has three components: AMP HTML is a simple redesign of HTML with specific AMP commands, AMP JS is JavaScript for mobile that ensures quick page rendering, and AMP Content Delivery Network will cache your AMP content for fast delivery.

In Google searches on a mobile device, there is now a carousel of search results that only includes web pages that have implemented AMP. While AMP is not yet a ranking factor, it does drive more traffic and visitors to your website, especially from mobile devices where your website is more likely to be a top result in Google's carousel.

5) Authority

A key approach that we use to rank your website is based on one of the current methods that Google uses to ranks websites, which is determining authority sites. An authority site is a site that is respected in the industry and has a lot of high quality content. It is reputable and trustworthy. And it recommends other reputable and trustworthy sites. When someone interested in the content of this website lands on it, they want to recommend it to others.

An Authority Site has a ranking of 20 or higher in the MOZ Open Site Explorer. The number of inbound links from other authority sites also boosts this ranking.

6) Creating Buzz and Connecting with Influencers

Once your websites are set up correctly and your online presence is established with the relevant target audience in mind, it is time to take your message out to the influencers of this audience. Your message is amplified at this stage through effective and targeted press releases.

We will identify influencers in our vast database, connect with them and provide them with a reason to mention your name, product or service to their large following and community. We can provide you tools to monitor the coverage for yourself or we can provide full tracking and monitoring services in this area.

In addition, we have the tools to measure the impact of this media exposure on your market place. We look for mentions in the different media and seek to maximize the positive sentiment related to your business.

7) Your Unique Selling Proposition

Since online sales is such an important revenue source these days, it is important to set up your Unique Selling Proposition and your identity and brand in a consistent way across your websites and social media networks. The more your readers and prospects connect with you, and can relate to the products and services you are offering, as well as relate to your brand, the higher your chances are of successfully attracting customers and increasing revenue.

 

Next Steps

Our execution strategy incorporates proven methodologies, a team of qualified and experienced personnel, and a highly responsive approach to managing deliverables.

On Page SEO Report

We will create and deliver a report that defines recommended and relevant keywords and phrases, identifies your competition, and authority sites on which we suggest you post articles. This will be implemented using our in-house and industry-leading proprietary keyword tool, SearchTriggers.

SearchTriggers was developed exclusively by our team, and provides unprecedented insight into competitive activities and SEO opportunities. This cutting-edge proprietary process provides real-time search data and guides us about whether or not to pursue a specific keyword naturally versus using a hybrid PPC approach.

SearchTriggers provides:

• In depth keyword research
• Competitive analysis
• Traffic analysis

Off Page SEO / Integration and Search Triggers proprietary systems

We will provide SEO research, analytics, reporting and optimization. In addition, we will make sure that local SEO is correctly set up for your company and that your website is displayed accurately on Google maps and other key local sites.

Our team has devised a new hybrid strategy combining paid search, traditional organic search, and social media to achieve proven SEO results under the new and much changed Google rules. This strategy has proven itself to acquire competitive keywords that simply cannot be garnered without its use. The output of SearchTriggers is both SEO and PPC, and we use it to provide us with the analytic basis of our hybrid SEO strategy that utilizes PPC to enhance Google SEO rank.

Our Success

Our Modern SEO Strategy has proven itself through continued success with multiple businesses, overtaking their competition and appearing at the top of Google for their keywords.

The time it takes to produce these results is based on how competitive your industry is and how effective you and your team are at consistently producing daily social media content, or hiring someone to do so. In our experience, our clients begin ranking under niche phrases in approximately 90 days. We consider it best practice to focus on 1 or 2 primary targets so that the client is established as the market leader in those areas.